* * *

Upon peering down, Sage smiled to see that there is indeed some sort of structure—not that she could make out the entire thing as it was still covered in layers of softened dirt.

"Alright, I need flashlights, ropes, and climbing gear—Don't know what's down there or how safe it is. Masks, too." Sage nodded eagerly toward Remus' order to see the party depart to get the necessary equipment.

"Yep, that looks like a roof," Hayes said, kneeling down closer to the hole, "I'm pretty sure it's rotting, but it shouldn't be too difficult to break through."

"But don't want to break what's inside. Have to be careful." Sage offered, continuing with her father's warning as she came to sit beside him, her legs dangling over the edge.

"That sounds like an order." Remus nodded in approval as he stood at her side, only for her to lean into his touch. Their bond started to hum. The combination of comfort truly eased her worries.

As Hayes and Remus spoke, Sage started to get lost in the connection—but it wasn't the bond; no, it didn't have the same warmth.

This still felt cold, almost acting as a warning.

She tilted her head to get a different frequency wave, picking up the obsessive ringing that was starting to give her a headache. She couldn't tell if the sound of a car door slamming or the impending jolt of intuition sent her gasping for air, but it certainly didn't aid in Luke's prep talk to himself of this being a normal reaction.

"Sage?"

"Sounds funny down there..." She said, rubbing at her ear and frowning at the dirt as though it was the cause of her twitching again.

"Probably doesn't want to be uncovered. Does it still feel like Demons?" Luke questioned, but Sage shook her head. "No, it feels like silver."

Now that sparked everyone's attention, if Sage could feel the silver, then there would be an issue among them. "Probably just surrounding the building," Hayes offered, but Remus shook his head as he came to level himself with Sage as well.

"I'm not picking up anything. Shouldn't we be the ones to feel it?" Sage's eyes began to water, but she hid it from her dad and mate.

The last thing she needed was to be pushed to the sidelines.

It wasn't too difficult to break down the rotten roofing, but what was revealed underneath wasn't too appealing to the eyes either.

"Well, we have some wood floors, a whole bunch of scattered paper—And dust. A whole lot of dust." Liam said, waving at his nose as he shined the light down below.

Sage had caught Blake's attention, and the thought of what she planned to do popped up in the instant. Causing her Charge to frown.

We don't know what's down there, hun. Let one of the Elwoods go—

Can't. I find this. I have to go down there...I need you to hold Remmy back. I don't think ringing is good for normal wolves.

Blake nodded, knowing that this sensation this discovery was giving off felt so utterly familiar—Ringing in the ear?

Was that a tactic used in the Underground? It must be because Sage had labeled it with the same familiarity as though she experienced it before.

Yet now there was a choice to be made, and even with the perfect opening between the males towering over it, they took the time to play a quick game of 'not it,' Sage swiped a mask from Andrew's hands and jumped down into the abyss.

"SAGE!" Remus roared, though it had soon been cut off as Blake followed Luna's orders. Of course, it didn't stand much of a chance, considering Blake wasn't at an Alpha ranking to pose any real challenge to the male.

Leo huffed at the sight before them. "How is it I can't get you two to do anything but your sister goes headfirst into this?!" Their father shouted, pointing angrily at his boys before gesturing to the hole.

"Sage can cause earthquakes and storms with her bare fucking hands, and she was fearless even before that. Call me when I'm an actual viable option." Liam said with crossed arms while Luke and Andrew shined their lights down.

Only for Sage to hold her hand over her eyes as she looked up, seeing the absolute layers of dust that swirled around in the space around her.

"You okay, Bearslayer?" With a few coughs of dusk escaping her lungs, she threw a thumbs up. Leaving the males to sigh in relief.

"Here, keep this mask on. We don't know what's down there," Remus ordered, dropping the mask down for her to catch. She quickly got to work fixing the straps around her ears and plucking the middle against her nose.

It felt strange, of course, but it her lungs from inhaling anything worse than she had. "Can I have a flashlight?" She called up, and within moments, both a flashlight and the rope had found their way down for her to utilize.

Now with a proper light, Sage caught sight of what this building could have been in the past, it was beautiful.

Gorgeous even.

Stone walls and beautiful windows that were so darkened she couldn't see through them.

While the air felt toxic, her presence felt relatively—Safe.

It was hard to describe, especially when the papers she picked up were nothing to go off of. Another language, she assumed.

"See anything, hun?" Remus called down after a few moments of silence, and she knew that she needed to give him some information. Otherwise, he would just follow her right down.

"Not really, it's very pretty. One big room, all furniture is broken." Her voice was muffled behind the mask, forcing her to call out louder than usual, "I find silver rock! Very big!... It's making the ringing sound!"

Blake blinked for a moment and fell to his knees just over the hole, "What does the silver smell like?"

Sage took Blake's question at face value and leaned close enough for her nose to get a proper scent. "Oranges. Or fruits."

"Yep, that's Claikite. Make sure you don't touch any of that stuff!" He called back, and Sage called to share that she heard the warning. However, it wasn't too long after that that she screamed in absolute terror.

There, just lingering in the corner, was the biggest monument of a wolf statue that was far closer than she first thought, its eyes glistening with a reddened ruby inside. Making the beast all the more horrifying, the longer one looks at it.

Sage's scream didn't cause anyone to hesitate as Blake slid down the rope with a flashlight in his mouth. "Sage? Sage! What—Holy mother Hecate...That's—" Sage looked towards Blake and nodded.

"Fenrir. Bad wolf." She claimed, as her flashlight was starting to highlight some of its main features. Yet the issue was that he felt almost alive.

"Fuck, this place gives me the creeps. I don't know what it is." Blake said, puffing off his shirt as he started to feel claustrophobic underground.

But Sage still felt at ease and couldn't make it out entirely. Not until the rope lowered industrial lights from the building projects just a ways away.

"Mother of Goddess, forgive me..." Blake whispered once another figure had been spotted. And Sage tilted her head at the inscription that was severely ruined by time, only for him to confirm her suspicion, "Moon Goddess."

"Why Moon Goddess and Fenrir in same place?"

"It doesn't have to be Fenrir. It could be a monument of any wolf." She nodded, eyeing it again to determine that it could be Randal for all she knew.

"Is everything okay down there?" Remus called out, having been instructed that going down to a place where Claikite lingered for too long might shock his body, considering how toxic it really was to wolves.

In that case, Andrew had called for both Grey and Severin. Both of them had been captured at one point in time and introduced to the deadly poison.

When they arrived, the three would make the journey down. However, patience was wearing thin when a loud clatter caused another uproar with Remus, causing Leo and Hayes to push him away from the hole entirely.

"Sage?! Talk to me!" There was no response, none whatsoever. Leaving Hayes to grip the ground now, encasing them with whitened knuckles.

Andrew couldn't wait for his Beta and Delta to arrive and instead took hold of the rope, preparing himself to go down to join them. While a hand had landed on his shoulder, Andy was prepared to deflect any refusal of him going down, and instead, Hayes handed him a pack filled with supplies in the event either of the two managed to get hurt by something down there.

With his feet planted down onto the dirty wooden floors, he too flinched as the sharp ringing hit him—Realizing that Sage and Blake were correct in identifying it as Claikite.

The sensation was giving him small jolts of phantom pains all around his face and neck as if he needed to be reminded of how deadly and dangerous it was.

"Sage...?!" Andrew called out, applying the mask and shining his flashlight this way and that. His memory failed him when trying to recognize this building, but the wolf in the corner looked vaguely familiar—Just not giving any sparks off the top of his head.

"Blake?" He attempted, only for the male to silently move forward from the opposite end. The former Rogue looked as though he saw a ghost, and it was a valid reason for it—For all of it.

"Blake man, what's—" With a turn of his head, Andrew caught sight of Sage's back. She was now on her knees in another room, and when he, too, filed in...All Andrew could process was how dark and how putrid the smell it was in here.

Yet the light that flickered off in the cages was enough to startle Sage again at the prospect of these people being down here for goddess knows how long.

"Blake, tell them we need Makenzie and her team ASAP. We need everything!" Andrew ordered, planting his flashlight beside the shelf before rushing to Sage's side to cradle her form.

The sound of breathing was easy to identify, though she wasn't sure they should be, considering they, too, were inhaling putrid things such as feces and Clakitie.

"Sage...Sage, it's alright. We'll get them out." Andy promised, but her sob was short-lived as she reached forward to the silver bars, where weak and unsteady eyes had caught sight of the female and male duo.

Their involuntary movements earned another stab in her chest. They thought that she was their warden. "You're safe now, I'm not going to hurt you." They remained ever so silent, but their eyes were dull and unmoving.

Yet one was full of curiosity.

"Food, water, and healer upstairs. No more cage, promise...We'll get you out." She declared, her hands gripping the silver bars tightly, and just before she attempted to yank it forward. A dirty and frail hand had wrapped around her warmth and hummed, his eyes lightening with happiness at the presence of a female.

Of someone who smelled pleasant and offered light in their room.

"H-help...He-lp." His voice was gruff, and Sage nodded eagerly, throwing off her sweater and seeing the female off in the other corner.

As they were all in nothing wearing shredded rags caked with dirt and every foul odor imaginable.

Sage was in nothing more than her tank top as she handed Andrew the T-shirt and sweater, all in preparation for those coming out.

"Stay back. I am going to pull silver bars away. Then we can go and get more help." The one holding Sage's hand offered a small squeeze before pulling back, while the others were much more docile and stayed in the corner of their cells.

"Got a count of four! Don't know if they're injured, gotta get them out someway. Can we get a pully system going?" Sage had just tuned back into the conversation behind her, but the ultimate rage allowed to rip the rest off its hinges while Andrew went ahead and did the same.

"It's okay...I'm from cage, too. I escape Underground. I can help." Sage had spoken between the male and female at her side, while Andrew offered his sweater and t-shirt to the imprisoned, "We'll get you warmed up and some food upstairs."

With an offered hand, Andrew could get either side to cooperate, but their limbs were much smaller than Sage's and too weak to make it to the hole on their own. "Alright...I think we have to do one at a time. Blake, how's that lift coming?!"

Blake jumped into the room to hoist up the other remaining male beside Andrew, while Sage attempted to coax the female into putting on the shirt. "They're getting the gurney to pull up and down. They're on their way over now." Blake caught Sage clasping both her hands into the she-wolf's, offering a small prayer and tears between them.

"Sage, you'd better do all this where the air is a lot more breathable," Blake whispered just behind her. This time, he offered a blanket, and she threw it over the woman's shoulders.

"Can you walk?" The female shook her head instantly, and thus Sage hooked an arm under her legs and turned towards Andrew. "I come right back..." The others had a right to communicate, but Blake was left when the first male started to make his way back into the real world.

Arms had instantly helped him off the ridged system and placed both glasses and a gas mask to provide him with the proper amount of oxygen.

"Sending it back down!" Remus called out, only to see that Sage placed another body onto it and smiled up.

"Two more! Can you send more blankets?" There was a call of confirmation, and she smiled up towards her mate, though it was clear that she had shed a few tears over what had been uncovered.

Remus shuttered as he took the next victim into his arms and carried her off to another station—Where the nurses were scrambling to get them hooked up.

"Alpha, do we still need to come down?" Severin called out, but Andrew laughed and shook his head upon coming back into the light. "Nah, just help pull these last two up for me...I will see if there's anything else in these rooms over here." Sage held the male close to her form, rubbing his shoulder as she stood right between Andrew and Blake.

"Not a normal day anymore." She whispered, and Blake cringed at the idea of being trapped underneath a monument meant to symbolize peace.

"Nope. Found a fucking jailhouse or something..." Blake said, shining his light back toward the wolf in question

"T-that's A-Alpha." The male in her arms managed to say, in between his gasps of air.

"Alpha?... Is that Randal?" The male nodded, his eyes tearful as he had to duck away from the harsh sun rays. "N-name?"

"I'm Sage...Luna of Crescent Moon. What is your name?" He gasped, though it sounded so hollow and airy that she held him closer. "L-luna...Bless...Bless it...Be." He whispered, his eyes closing just as the lift returned.

"Sending both Sage and the male up, taking another look around before we head up too!" The Luna had turned to either Andy or Blake with a frown.

"It's not good for you to inhale so much. We'll be okay. Just five more minutes."

She was reluctant to nod, but followed their aid and tugged at the ropes. "I'm ready!" Her gruff voice was soon followed by a quick plow of the Elwoods getting their Luna of the ditch.

"What's your name?" She whispered down to the near skeleton of the male in her arms, trying to keep his body covered by the warm blanket.

"John...M-my name's J-John." She rubbed up one of his arms as she moved to cover his eyes.

"I stay close to you and the others, okay? You're safe." He hummed and embraced her warmth further, and as arms had tempted to take the male, Sage turned utterly defensive the moment he flinched at the unannounced contact.

"No, I take him to healer," Sage said, only for Remus to remove her mask and aid her to her feet—Where she hurried off towards the makeshift tent sheltering those from burning their iris'. Sage knew the pain of being suddenly exposed to sunlight after being deprived of it for so long.

After being instructed to place him into the bed, he gripped her forearm—Instantly enacting a set of guards to growl. "Stop, stop—it's okay. I'm not leaving." She hushed and cooed down to the male in question, all before kneeling to the ground. This was a tactic that she often used to settle a cranky pup when they couldn't get the words out properly.

Remus knew it well.

"Y-You're the...Luna?" He choked, his eyes fixating on everything back and forth—But as Jackson walked forward, the male's smile erupted before his breath started to shallow.

Making her frown instantly, yet his heart was beating ever so slowly.

Until it stopped.

"McKenzie! Male is dying!" Sage shouted, which broke out the pure mistress in her blood as she ripped the better part of her arm to press the open wound against his mouth.

Kenzie knew very well what her Luna was attempting to do. The blood would need help getting through his body to heal. Thus, she began to perform CPR, hoping that the addition of oxygen would make his heartbeat.

Allowing the blood to do its job.

"Can't die...Can't—Please, you're free." Kenzie worked effortlessly while Sage caressed his face. Her blood splattered over his cheek as the others were eyeing the scene with sheer worry that they were next.

That their bodies were too far gone to be saved.

"Eli, please call my witches...We need to make potions. They're too weak to wait and heal without help." Eli already had his phone pressed against his ear to pass along Sage's orders, and the women were more than happy to follow them.

However, with the number of people surrounding the memorial site, it grew claustrophobic. "Ellie, we need to close the curtains. Too many people." Luke's mate hurried along, and it was a constant battle to get the necessary nutrients into the missing persons without causing panic.

Both Sage and Blake had passed off well in giving reassurance, and John didn't have any problems following his near-death experience. But he certainly lost the breathless voice he had prior, and was full of smiles every time Sage returned to his side to offer him some water or small bits of food.

"Didn't find much down in the main room, but the others...Think you might want to look at this." Andrew said behind the curtain as Sage took a peek through. "I'll be right back. I have to talk to my mate." John had no issues, especially since he and the others could see her shadow just beyond the curtain.

"What is it?" She questioned, and Remus took hold of the large pouch before sticking his nose halfway in.

"Stinks. What the hell is this?" Sage shifted between the three males and huffed as she wasn't able to sniff it as Blake took it from her grasp before she was able to.

"Hey!"

"It's the stuff the Snyders used to poison you. It's probably not good to get anymore in your system. Loads of other shit down there too." Blake reinforced, and Sage's eyes grew wide with rage at the idea that this was the Snyder's doing.

"Jack, I want the Snyders in custody. I don't give a damn what kind of excuses they pull, all of them." The Delta gave a firm nod to the Alpha's orders before darting off to gather some Enforcers while Sage shivered with rage.

"After witches come, we bring them to the infirmary...We need to save and help them before we ask questions." She reminded, and Remus realized just how delicate this situation is. He didn't realize just how long of a process it would be, so Sage joined the nurses and comforted the victims as any good Luna should.

While Remus took charge and started to clean the house. Which ultimately started with reporting it to both Harlow and Issac first. In addition to updating Hayes properly, as the group's effort managed to make this job much easier to secure a line of questions for the Snyder family and those found.

___

Date: 05/28/25

Time: 12:54

Words: 3371